Wireless lighting control systems may utilize radio frequency (RF) communication to communicate control signals to an antenna element mounted in a light fixture. For example, a user may turn on, turn off, or dim a light using wireless control. Specifically, a user may use a portable electronic device such as, for example, a smartphone or tablet computer that includes wireless control capabilities in order to communicate with the antenna element located within the lighting fixture. For example, the portable electronic device may include Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) wireless capability in order to wirelessly communicate with one or more lighting fixtures.
A home, office, or any other building typically includes many light fixtures for illumination. A user may wish to simultaneously control two or more of the light fixtures using wireless control. For example, a user may wish to change the color, dim, turn on, or turn off all of the light fixtures in his or her living room at the same time. For security reasons, each individual lighting fixture needs to be paired to the portable electronic device before they can exchange data. Pairing occurs when one of the light fixtures and the portable electronic device become a trusted pair. To become a trusted pair, a specific discovery and authentication process should be completed. For example, the light fixtures and the portable electronic device may become a trusted pair by exchanging a protected security identification number, or passkey. Once a lighting fixture is paired with the portable electronic device, the two devices are now connected to one another. This means that the two devices may securely exchange data between one another.
A piconet physical channel is a network using BLE based technology protocols to allow a master device, such as the portable electronic device, to interconnect with multiple slave devices, such as the lighting fixtures. Piconet physical channels utilize frequency hopping. Specifically, each piconet physical channel includes a unique master device (e.g., the portable electronic device), where each master device has its own unique device address as well as its own clock. Therefore, each piconet physical channel will also have its own unique frequency hopping sequence. This means that when a connection between the master device and one of the slave devices is established, the clock and the unique device address of the master device may be transmitted to the slave device. The unique device address of the master device may be used to determine the sequence of frequency hops of the slave devices, and the clock of the master device may be used to determine the timing of the frequency hops of the slave devices.
Using the above-described approach, the slave devices within a piconet physical channel are able to avoid one another's transmission by persistently changing frequency channels. However, there are some drawbacks when utilizing this approach. This is because the timing of the frequency hops between the various slave devices is fixed. In particular, the timing of the frequency hop may be anywhere from about ten to twenty seconds in duration. This fixed duration may be an issue if a user wishes to simultaneously control two or more slave devices at about the same time, since it is impossible to control two lighting fixtures simultaneously. For example, if a user attempts to dim all of the lighting fixtures in his or her living room at once, each lighting fixture will actually dim one by one, in a sequential fashion. Thus, there exists a need in the art for improved, simultaneous control of wireless lighting fixtures.